The Shadow's Light
by Nytemare
Summary: As a young child, Dantius Palpatine faces an excruciating choice, the results of which would lead anyone to the dark side.


Ok, this is my first attempt at fanfic, so be gentle. It is a complete story.

Disclaimer: These characters, well most of them, are property of George Lucas, and all the credit for dreaming up these characters goes to him.

"The Shadow's Light"

"Dantius…go with your sister, protect her." Tears burned the boy's face. "Remember the prophecy, Dantius. In time, your sacrifice will bring balance. You will know when the time is right. Take Daneia with you to the Jedi, they will train you both in the force. Master Yoda will know what to do."

He shook his head. He could not leave his parents, who had kept them alive, and trained them in the force, surreptitiously, in this force-forsaken death camp. "The Sith is coming. He is evil incarnate, Dantius. He is looking for you both. You must not let him get you or your sister, or all will be lost, do you understand?" He did not, but he nodded his head. His parents hugged them. He grabbed his sister's arm, opened the door, and ran for his life through the liquid fire. The shack his parents were in exploded. He had seen this before.

As he ran, his mind drifted. Two years, they had been here. This was camp run by primitive, cloned creatures, soulless and cruel. They experimented and killed here. They did as they were told. The beings interred here from all over the galaxy shared empty hungry expressions. He felt so far from the waterfalls of Naboo. He did not remember what it was like not to fight to live every day. Patience, he learned, was all that got him through. Disease and hunger were all that thrived here. How could the Jedi allow them to be taken to this hell? How could any good being allow a place like this to exist?

His and his sister's force powers were not discovered until shortly after they got here at the age of six. His parents, resourceful and cunning, had books smuggled into the camp to help them learn the ways of the force. They trained the twins the best they could, not being Jedi themselves.

Being in this camp, the twins had to learn to improvise. They did not have the tools that most Jedi had to learn the force. They used heavy rods taken from building foundation in place of lightsabers. Their imaginations excelled. Daneia excelled in her saber skills, oft times defeating her brother in dueling. Dantius, however, was utterly invincible when it came to his clever use of the force. He knew that this ability to cloud minds and control thoughts had kept the family alive many times when faced with certain death.

Dantius was reminded of the urgency of reality when some liquid pyro bit through his clothing, and into his calf. His grip was so tight on his sister's hand, her fingers turned blue. Hundreds of people were running in all directions, trying to escape this liquid death. He looked at Daneia. "Everything will be okay, my Danti." His sister, her blue eyes shined through the sunken flesh around them. Always hopeful, always encouraging, she showed undying spirit. She did not have the dreams like he did. Pain, suffering, unhappiness. The dreams haunted him. She was his light, he was her shadow. He heard a blast not fifteen feet away, and the shadow Dantius grabbed his light's hand, and dove for the ground.

The nightmare that haunted Dantius for years was now a reality. He crawled from underneath the charred corpses to see what remained of the sun peering through the smoke. This dreadful sense of deja-vu coursed through his veins. This was the path that was already made for him. This was the path he tried with all his might to change, but he could not. Everything was proceeding as he had foreseen.

He could feel the darkness approaching in the force. Daneia called to him. He helped her up, and they ran to the guard shack. He saw a ship not far off. They would wait there, until the invading force had left. But, the darkness reached to him through the force, its dark fingers grabbed his soul, and it spoke to him. "I am coming for you, and your sister, Dantius." Crouched under a counter, he looked at his sister, so cool under fire. She mustered up a smile. His eyes filled with anger, and hatred at this evil that was calling to him, this utter foulness. He knew he must do it. He must not let his light fall to the Sith. She nodded to him, for she knew as well what must be done. It took all his might to reach out through the force, and choke the life out of Daneia, his sister, his light.

Her eyes had a look of compassion, even after him killing her. He closed them, and hugged her lifeless body, his own convulsing in his cries. The twins had worn the same necklaces since birth, the Palpatine family crest, with their named engraved. He removed his necklace, put it on Daneia, and took hers. As he was clasping it around his neck, the evil incarnate opened the door to the shack. There was nowhere to go.

As the Sith Lord Plagueis spoke to Dantius, his mind wondered to the future. His hatred for this blackness was boundless. Plagueis told him how the Jedi order, and Master Yoda allowed him to be taken from Naboo, and allowed his family to be killed, and did nothing. The Sith spoke of his power, and the power that actually brought the twins into the world, left them on Naboo to be found by the couple who raised him, the noble Palpatines. His mother and father, were not his mother and father? Dantius lept on Plagueis in a fit of rage, punching, grasping for his eyes. Plagueis, actually laughing, brushed him off like a speck of dust. Dantius could barely speak, breathless, swinging at the air as the Sith held him in place through the force. "How? How could you bring us into this world and allow this? WHY?"

Darth Plagueis the Wise responded, "this is what I wanted. Your anger, your suffering, Dantius, your hatred of me makes you strong in the dark side. It is good that you killed your sister, because I would have trained her to kill you." A scream escaped the boy, "NOOOOO!"

"Yes, Dantius." Plagueis smiled. "DON'T call me THAT! You have no RIGHT to call me the name my sister used." A smirk from the Sith. "I will use your anger to train you to get revenge on the Jedi for allowing this. Your anger at me is what brought you to kill your sister, and you saved your own life in the process. Now, your guilt will be what drives you to revenge. I will teach you in the dark side, my apprentice. You will know all that I know. You will carry on a rich tradition. In time, you will be the greatest Sith Lord in the history of the Sith."

Dantius put away his anger, looking to the future. He would be trained by Plagueis. He would learn all he could, and he would get his revenge. Revenge on Plagueis, revenge on the Jedi, revenge on whoever allowed him to be put in the position to have to take his own sister's life. He would have to be patient, cunning, deliberate. He looked up at the cloaked figure, and took a knee. "Teach me, Lord Plagueis, in the ways of the dark side. I want your knowledge. I am a willing student.

"Good. You will be my apprentice, Darth Sidious. I will teach you everything. Rise, and your training will begin."

Darth Sidious rose, and the two Sith Lords walked off to the ship. The master had no clue that the apprentice was already clouding his mind.

Left behind in this camp, was his name… his name on a pendant worn by his light. Along with his light, he also left his soul.

He had a slight grin on his face, as he thought to the future. How sweet the revenge would be!

He never again thought of the prophecy, until some one hundred years later. Falling down the reactor shaft, ground swiftly approaching, force lighting angrily shooting from his fingers, he ended his scream, and his epiphany caused a quick "Oh" to come from his lips. After hitting the ground, he felt his death come. With his shaking hand, he grasped the pendant from his neck, with his family's crest, and the name of his light, his Daneia. As his last breath left him, he heard his sister call to him. He smiled in remembrance.

He had met his destiny. Only now, at the end, did he understand.


End file.
